Domestic appliances, for example tumble dryers, usually comprise electrical loads which are operated by mains AC voltage and have associated switching means, for example in the form of relays, with the switching means applying the mains AC voltage to the electrical loads or disconnecting the electrical loads from the mains AC voltage as a function of their switching state. The switching means are suitably actuated by a controller of the domestic appliance in order to ensure that the domestic appliance functions in the desired manner.
In order to ensure increased operational reliability of the domestic appliance and to prevent any possible danger to users, it is desirable to reliably and automatically identify a malfunction in the domestic appliance, for example, as a result of a defect in a switching means due to wear. When a malfunction is identified, the domestic appliance can be transferred to a safe state.
A method for operating a domestic appliance, in which method the domestic appliance is checked for malfunctions, is described in DE 10 2006 004 387 A1, for example.